Steve McIntosh Report Blog

Wichita's convention future

by Steve McIntosh,posted Nov 5 2013 1:20AM

City officials are considering Wichita’s future as a convention center. Currently, conventions are generating about 20 million dollars a year for the local economy, but that could drop pretty seriously in the future … especially when it comes to national conventions.
That’s the word from Bill Krueger … a consultant with Conventions, Sports, and Leisure International … in a recent pitch to city officials and Go Wichita.
Krueger says in order to stay competitive, Wichita needs to double its exhibit space and add at least 100 hotel rooms within walking distance of a downtown convention facility. Krueger says if improvements are made, they could generate more than 49 million dollars a year in economic output.
Where does that leave the big, blue dome that is Century Two … our center for conventions and trade shows for more than 40 years? Do we keep it, tear it down and build something new, or renovate it for other purposes and add something new?
More on that tomorrow.
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